Near-kidnapping Proves Parents' Suspicions Right

Baby America's Parents Breathe A Sigh Of Relief A Day After She Was Almost Stolen From The Hospital.

December 2, 1996|By Kenneth A. Harris and Martin Comas of The Sentinel Staff

A Polk County couple were almost immediately suspicious of a mysterious teenager who said she wanted to take pictures of their newborn.

That suspicion had turned to relief Sunday, the day after hospital security foiled the teen's attempt to snatch the child from Columbia Medical Center Osceola.

The 3-day-old girl, named America, was returned unharmed.

''When she gets older, we'll tell her a story about how she was almost stolen from the hospital after she was born,'' the child's father, Estevan Barbosa, said Sunday from the family's Davenport home, about 30 miles southwest of Orlando.

Nystav Coll-Ramos, 16, of 11901 Cheltinham Drive in Orlando remained in the Orlando Juvenile Detention Center on kidnapping charges.

According to a Kissimmee police report, Coll-Ramos told authorities she was threatened at knifepoint by a 17-year-old boy who forced her to take the baby. But police questioned a boy thought to be that teenager and determined he was not involved.

''We (don't) know all the answers,'' police Cmdr. Pam Rousch said. ''We're trying to get the motivation of why she did it - if we'll ever know.''

On Sunday, Dominga and Estevan Barbosa recounted their ordeal in an interview with The Orlando Sentinel.

On Friday, the day after her baby was born, Dominga Barbosa said, she received a call from a young girl who asked to take pictures of the child for the government. She told them they would get free copies of the photos.

''She knew my name, my baby's name and her date of birth,'' the 21-year-old mother said. ''It was strange.''

The next day, the girl came to her hospital room and told her she needed to take the baby to shoot the photos, Dominga Barbosa said. The woman said she would return America in five minutes.

''I got suspicious,'' Dominga Barbosa said. She told the teenager to wait until her husband arrived so he could accompany her.

''I wasn't going to let her take the baby by herself,'' the mother of three said.

After the husband arrived, the girl told the couple her photo studio was in the hospital. The father walked through the hospital corridors with the girl, who appeared to be looking for an empty room.

''She walked very slowly like she didn't know where she was going, (and) that's why I got very suspicious,'' he said. ''I was afraid she would steal my baby.''

She took the newborn to a surgical room and asked him to wait nearby, he said.

''After a few minutes I . . . peeked in the room,'' Estevan Barbosa said.

A hospital worker walked by and told him he wasn't allowed in the surgery room. When the father explained that a girl had taken his baby there, hospital security was called. The girl and America had disappeared, slipping out another door.

A hospital guard found the suspect outside the emergency room exit and detained her until police arrived.

Coll-Ramos, a student at Cypress Creek High School in Orange County, told investigators she was working on a school project, the police report said.

Thomas Akin, principal at Cypress Creek, said Coll-Ramos has not been attending classes recently because of a disciplinary action. Akin would not elaborate.